Malia Obama is known for her effortlessly bohemian and defiant fashion choices, and she carried on that trend as she headed to the nail salon on Friday.
The 27-year-old daughter of Michelle and Barack Obama flaunted tradition by going bra-free in a black tank top matched with a pair of baggy pants and flip flops.
She can often be seen in outfits cut from the same cloth as what the guys are wearing these days, and she makes it her own.
Malia tends to wear chunky boots and oversized coats, layering them with eclectic and vintage-inspired pieces.
Nevertheless, the Gen Z style icon was clearly in the mood for some pampering as she builds a career in Hollywood as a writer and director.
The former First Daughter has already established quite the reputation, including being accused of plagiarism by an independent filmmaker who said Malia’s Nike ad is ‘shockingly similar’ to her work.
Malia Obama is known for her effortlessly bohemian and defiant fashion choices, and she carried on that trend as she headed to the nail salon on Friday
The 27-year-old daughter of Michelle and Barack Obama flaunted tradition by going bra-free in a black tank top matched with a pair of baggy pants and flip flops
She was previously employed by Donald Glover as a staff writer on his Amazon series Swarm.
Her directorial debut The Heart premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2024 where some critics called it ‘touching’ and ‘interesting and visuals lovely.’ Others, however, dismissed the 15-minute short as the work of a ‘Nepo baby,’ per The Independent.
She went on to direct a NIke commericial featuring A’ja Wilson.
The Harvard graduate now goes by the stage name Malia Ann, a move that both her parents supported with a chuckle or two.
‘I was all like, “You do know they’ll know who you are,”‘ Barack, 64, said on the Pivot Podcast. ‘And she was like, “You know what? I want them to watch it that first time and not in any way have that association.”‘
Speaking on Kate and Oliver Hudson’s Sibling Revelry podcast, Michelle, 62, said, ‘Malia, who started in film, and it being her first project, she took off her last name, and we were like, “They’re still going to know it’s you, Malia.” But we respected the fact that she’s trying to make her way.’
According to the Becoming author, both Malia and her younger sister Sasha, 24, are practicing the ‘push away’ when it comes to their famous family.
‘They’re young adult women, but they definitely went through a period in their teen years where it was the push away. They’re still doing that,’ the former First Lady went on.
The Gen Z style icon was clearly in the mood for some pampering as she builds a career in Hollywood as a writer and director
Malia’s directorial debut The Heart premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2024 where some critics called the 15-minute short film ‘touching’ and others dismissed it as the work of a ‘Nepo baby’
Both Malia and her younger sister Sasha, 24, are practicing the ‘push away’ when it comes to their famous family, according to their mother Michelle Obama
The former First Lady supported Malia’s decision to drop her last name and use the stage name Malia Ann, even though she told her daughter, ‘They’re still going to know it’s you, Malia’; pictured on Jimmy Kimmel LIve! in December 2025
‘You’re trying to distinguish yourself. It is very important for my kids to feel like they’ve earned what they are getting in the world, and they don’t want people to assume that they don’t work hard, that they’re just naturally handed things,’ she said, adding, ‘They’re very sensitive to that. They want to be their own people.’
As far as Malia’s romantic life goes, she appears to be single as she’s spotted on lunch outings with friends rather than a particular partner.
In 2022, Malia was linked to Ethiopian record producer Dawit Eklund after being seen together in New York and Los Angeles, but they appeared to be broken up by 2025.
Between the years 2017 and 2021, she dated Rory Farquharson, a British student she met at Harvard and who quarantined with her family during the pandemic. Her father Barack said that Farquharson was ‘a good kid’ on the Bill Simmons Podcast.
